Paralleling attachment for drill and cutting tools



Dec. 16, 1952 KLElN 2,621,408

PARALLEL-INC ATTACHMENT FOR DRILL AND cuwwmc TOOLS Filed Jul 10, 1950INVENT OR PATENT AGENT Patenied Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICEPARALLELING ATTACHMENT FGR DRILL AND CUTTING TOOLS 15 Claims.

Th invention relates to paralleling attachments or gauges for drill andcutting tools and more particularly to gauging means to be attached toconventional hand pieces of dental engines.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, compactand readily adjustable paralleling gauge which can be easily and quicklyattached to and detached from the hand piece of a dental engine.

Another object of th invention is to provide a paralleling gauge pinassociated with a holder of a drill or similar tool, said pin beingadapted to be held in contact with a reference surface to which aparallel hole or a parallel other surface shall be prepared, and beingsecured to the one end of an arm member projecting from the tool holder,the other end of said arm member being adjustably mounted thereon.

A still other object of the invention is to provid a paralleling gaugefor a holder of a drill or similar tool, said gauge being adapted to beheld in contact with a reference surface, while the drilling or otheroperation is in progress, thus assuring an absolute parallel hole orsurface to be prepared.

A further object of this invention is to provide a simple andinexpensive paralleling gauge which can be readily attached to anddetached from the hand piece of a dental engine, which may be either thestandard dental hand piece or angle hand piece.

A still further and important object of the invention is to provide aparalleling gauge for dental engine hand pieces, said gauge beinguniversally adjustable for different kinds of work in the patients mouthand being constructed in such ingenious manner that the tool can be usedeven in the posterior region f the patients mouth without beingobstructed, or interfering in any way with the drilling operation, andwithout obstructing the dentists view.

Another important object of the invention is to provide this parallelinggauge in such a manner that its pin will always remain parallel withrespect to the axis of the tool inserted in the dental engine handpiece, while the effective length of said pin and its distance from thtool can be adjusted.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe more fully understood by reference to the following description andthe accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodimentsthereof, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective View of the front pertion ofa standard hand piece of a dental engine with a paralleling gaugeaccording to this invention attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a perspective side view of leling gauge of Figur 1 alone;

Figure 3 shows perspective side views of the parts of the assembledparalleling gauge of Figures 1 and 2 disassembled; v

Figure 4 is a perspective side view of the front portion of an anglehand piece of a dental engine with a paralleling gauge according to thisin vention attached thereto;

Figure 5 is a top View of the paralleling gauge of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a cross-section through the housing of thedental angle handpiece and the attached paralleling gauge along the line E6 of Figure 4,looking in the direction of the arrows, the angle hand piece beingpartially shown in front view;

Figure 7 is a cross-section through a part of the device, shown in Fig.1, along the line '!'i and looking in the direction of the arrows; t

Figur 8 is a perspective view of the front portion of a standard handpiece of a dental engine with a cutting disk rather than a bur, as inFig. 1, inserted and a modified paralleling gauge attached. 7

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the front end of a standard dentalhand piece It holds a shank l i of a drill or bur in a conventionalmanner. The hand piece I0 has a slightly coneshaped seat portion l2 nearits front end taper ing forwardly, upon which a ring or annular memberl3, being part of theparalleling gauge in accordance with thisinvention, is slipped. This ring or annular member It; has a coneshapedinner surface corresponding to and tight; 1y fitting on said seatportion I2 in such a manner that the ring or annular member It will befirm- 1y secured on the hand piece Ill after tightening of a clamp screwwith a knurled head. This screw I 4 engages a threaded hole through thewall of the ring or annular member l3. The outer surface orcircumference of this ringer annular member I3 is cylindrical. v

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, an arm member or elongated plate[5 having a slot It extending from one of the ends of said member orplate suitably through about half its length is fastened to the ring orannular member l3 by means of a second screw ll having a knurled head,said screw l1 being passed through the slot it and engaging'a secondthreaded hole 18 in said member l3, said threaded hole l8 being suitablylocated opposite said first threaded hole.

the paral- The slotted arm member l can be adjusted lengthwise withrespect to the tool by displacing it in the direction of its slot I6,when the screw I1 is loosened. After tightening the screw ll, theselected position of the slotted arm member is fixed, as said slottedarm member frictionally engages the annular surface of the ring E3. Theparallel position of the member l5 with respect. to the shank H of thebur or drill is assured byproviding the member IS with a concave orcurved surface of exactly the same curvature as the outer cylindricalsurface of the ring or annular member l3. (See Fig.7.) The tight fit ofthe arm member H) on the ring orannular member l3 assures an absoluteparallelism.

A small, suitably cylindrical opening l9 isprovided in that end of saidslotted arm member I5 which is opposite the slotted end, said opening l9running in the same direction as the slot IS. A guide prong or gauge pin20 having a diameter of about that of the cylindrical opening [9 isinserted therein and is firmly secured to said arm member or plate l5 bymeans of a, third screw 2! with a knurled head screwed .in a threadedhole 22 provided near the free Vendof said member and extending intosaid cylindrical opening .lS. The angle between the threaded hole 22 andthecylindrical opening I9 is advantageously 90. The guide prong or gaugepin may be straight or offset, as shownin the drawing. The offsetconstructionhasrthe advantage that said prong or pin 2llcan be adjustedto a great number of positions by turning it within the cylindricalopening 19 before tightening the screw 2!. It is further possible toadjust the prong or pin 20 lengthwise by inserting it in the hole 19 toa greater orlesser extent. While the prong orpin 20 can be readilyadjusted in this manner according tothe particular working conditions,no adjustment ofits parallelism with respectto the axis ofthe drill orbur shank II is required since. the .parallel position is absolutelyfixed, as described in. the foregoing. By exchanging the prong or pin 26for prongs or pins of .difielentlength. shapes 'or eccentricity, thenumber of possible positions can beincreased. V J The front portion of aconventional angle hand piecetfl of a dental engine is shown in Figures.A thin bent plate or angle member 31 is mounted on the topv of the frontend 32 of the housing of the angle piece 38, as shown in Figure 6. Thisplate or angle member .3! may be designed so as to be mounted on thehousings of angle pieces. of different shape and/or construction. asthat shown in Figures} and 6. Small screws 33 are provided to securesaid angle member 3! to the housing. In place of the screws 33 rivetscanbe used. The angle member 3| may also be made integral with thehousing of the front end 32 of the angle hand piece 30. This anglemember 3| is the connectingmeans between the angle hand piece and theparalleling gauge, i. e., it is the equivalent of the ring or annularmember [3 in the first embodiment, shown in Figures l, 2, and 3. Incontrast to this ring orannular member 13, the angle. member 3| remainssuitably permanently attached to the front end housing of the angle handpiece, i. e., .it will not bedetached therefrom when the tool is usedwithout the paralleling gauge.

According .to Figures 4 to 6, inclusive, an arm member or elongatedplate 35, similar to the member [5 in Figures 1, 2, and 3, is providedwith a longitudinal slot 35 extending from one end of said member 35suitably through more than half of its length. The arm or plate member35 is detachably mounted on the flat top of the angle member 31 by meansof a screw 37 with a knurled head, said screw being passed through theslot 36 and engaging a threaded hole provided in the top of the anglemember 3!, or may be attached to the top of the angle member Si in anyother suitable manner. The arm or plate member 35 can be readilyadjusted lengthwise and angularly after loosening of the screw 37. Whilethe longitudinal displacement is principally the sameasthat of the.member 15 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the angular adjustment is obtained byturning the member 35 about the screw 31. The selectedposition of thearm member 35 is then fixed by tightening the screw 37. Two differentangular positions of the member 35 are indicated in Figure 5, one withfull lines and the other one with dotted lines.

Close to the free end of the slotted arm or plate member 35, i. e.,close to that end which isopposite. the slotted. end, there is provideda sniall, suitably cylindrical hole 35 through said member 35, the axisof said hole 39 being parallel to the. axes of said screw 3! and that ofa drill orbur 34 inserted in the front end of the angle hand piecetfl ina conventional manner. A straight guide prong or gauge pin ii! havingapproximately the same diameter as that of the hole 35 isinsertedtherein and can be adjusted to the proper position required inany particular case by displacing it in the direction of the ax of saidpin 453. After, the proper position has been found, the pinAil ,is fixedinthis position by tightening a screw 4| with a knurled head, said screwbeing screwed in ,a threaded hole 42 provided in thefreeendof saidslotted arm or plate member 35 and extending to the hole 39. In placeofa straight prong or pin $8, an offset pin construction similarto pin28 in Figures 1, 2,, and3 may be employed. By using a. plurality of,pins of differ entlengths,' shapes and eccentricity, an extremely greatnumber of positions can be easily adjusted. a

The parts of the new paralleling gauges may be made of anysuitablestrong material, in particular, of metalhfsuch as steel, stainlesssteel, nickel, chromium, etc. V r V The new device. cairbe easilycleaned and sterilized asthere are only few and simple parts to bedisassembled.

In placeof an arm member with a slot open atone of its ends,,as shown inthe drawing, it is possible to provide a slotted arm member with both ofits endsfclosed. I 7 s As the dimensions of v the parts, of theparalleling gauge according to the invention are small, no diilicultieswill be encountered when the tool is insertedin the patients mouth. Inspite of the reduced dimensions of the parts, the construction is sturdyto assure an exact operation. When the prongs or pins 2?] or til areadjusted according to the particular working conditions, the cutting ordrilling operation may be performed in the. patients mouth whereby saidprongs orpins 20 or 48 are held in contact with a surface on or in atooth. The surface or hole to be prepared by the action of the drill orbur H or,34, respectively, will be absolutely parallel withrespect tothefirst or [guiding surface, becausethe prongs or pins .29 011130 remainin contact with saidguiding surface, while the operation is progressing.

In the modification oi Fig. 8, the same standard dental hand piece I!)as in Fig. l is shown and the same reference numerals as in Fig. 1 areused for like parts. A cutting or grinding disk 8| is mounted on a shank82 which is inserted in the hand piece in a conventional manner. Thegauging attachment comprises the same ring or annular member i3 and thesame elongated or arm member l5 as in Fig. l. The gauge prong 88 isoffset somewhat-similar as the gauge pin 28 in Fig. l and its one end isinserted in the hole E9 of the arm member l5 as in Fig. l. The free end83 of the prong 8G is flat and bent toward the tool at a right angle insuch a manner that the flat side is parallel with respect to the surfaceof the disk 8!. This flat side of the free end 83 of the prong 86 servesas guiding means for the disk during the cutting or grinding operationin principally the same manner as the free ends of the pins 2% or 49 inthe embodiments of Figs. 1 or 4. The guiding prong of Fig. 8 may beattached to the arm member 35, if a cutter or grinder disk is insertedin the tool holder 38, in Fig. 4.

The parallelism of the arm member is with respect to the tool shank inFigs. 1 and 8 may be assured by providing in place of the concave orcurved seat surface of this member E5 a fiat seat surface and byproviding a channel of the width of this arm member in the outer surfaceof the ring l3, said channel being adapted to be engaged by the slottedarm member 15. As this channel has a uniform depth from the cylindricalouter surface of the ring 83 and the side walls of this channel tightlyengage the arm member I5, an absolute parallelism of the guide 2. Agauge according to claim 1, means to adjustably attach said gauge pin tosaid arm member.

3. A gauge according to claim 1, means providing a seat for said slottedarm member, said seat means being mounted on said tool holder and havinga threaded hole, and bolt means extending through the slot of saidslotted member being screwed in said threaded hole of said seat meansand pressing said slotted arm member on said seat means.

4. A gauge according to claim 1, means providing a seat for said slottedarm member, means to detachably mount said seat means on said toolholder, said seat means having a threaded hole and bolt means, extendingthrough the slot of prong with respect to the tool is assured. Suchconstruction has the advantage that the same fiat arm member I5 may beused for the angle hand piece in Figure 4, if an additional set of holesfor inserting the prong and for its clamp ing screw is provided therein.

While the invention is described as applied to dentists tools, the newparallel gauge may be adapted to any other tool, for example, precisiontools, such as drills and grinders, of jewelers, watchmakers, and forfine mechanical work of any kind.

Although, in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, thisinvention is described as embodied in concrete forms and the principleof the invention has been explained together with the best modes inwhich it is now contemplated, applying that principle, it will beunderstood that the elements and combinations shown and described aremerely illustrative and that the invention is not limited thereto, sincealterations and modifications will readily suggest themselves to personsskilled in the art without department from the true spirit of thepresent invention or from the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A gauge for guiding a tcolholder-supported cutting and drilling toolto produce parallel cuts, comprising in combination a single arm member,one end portion of said arm member being slotted lengthwise, releasablefastemng and locking means on said toolholder, said fastening andlooking means extending through the slot of said slotted portion andfirmly securing to said toolholder, a gauge pin adapted to be held incontact with a reference surface during the cutting and drillingoperation of said tool and means to firmly secure said gauge pin to theother end portion of said arm member.

said arm member said slotted member, being screwed in said threaded holeand pressing said slotted arm member on said seat means. i a

5. A dental gauge for producing parallel cuts, comprising incombination, an element providing a seat, said element being adapted tobe secured to a drill holder supporting a drill, a single arm member,one end of said arm member being slotted lengthwise, means extendingthrough the slot of said arm member to adjustably mount and lock saidslotted end of said arm member on said seat, a gauge pin and means tofirmly attach said gauge pin to the other end of said arm member.

6. A dental gauge according to claim 5, wherein said element providing aseat is ring-shaped and is adapted to be removably slipped over andtightly fitting a tapered front portion of said drill holder, screwmeans in said ring-shaped element adapted to firmly attach said elementto said tapered portion.

7. A dental gauge according toclaim 5, wherein said element providing aseat is ring-shaped and is adapted to be removably slipped over andtightly fitting a tapered front portion of said drill holder and whereinsaid seat engaging end of said arm member is provided with a concavecontact surface of the same curvature as said ring-shaped seat to assurea tight fit and firm mounting of said arm member on said ringshapedseat.

8. A dental gauge according to claim 5, wherein said element providing aseat is an angle piece and is adapted to be mounted on and over an edgeof a substantially square-shaped housing of said drill holder, fasteningmeans to permanently secure said angle piece to said housing.

9. A dental gauge according to claim 5, wherein said arm member isslotted and said means to adjustably mount said arm member on said seatis a screw extending through said slot screwed in a threaded hole insaid seat and pressing said arm member on said seat.

10. A dental gauge according to claim 5, wherein a cylindrical hole isprovided at said other of the ends of said arm member, said hole beingadapted to receive said gauge pin and wherein a threaded hole isprovided in said arm end extending to said gauge pin hole and beingadapted to receive a screw firmly securing said gauge pin to said armmember.

11. In a standard hand piece of a dental engine, gauge means forproducing parallel cuts, said gauge means comprising an annular memberadapted to be removably slipped on and fitting a cone-shaped frontportion of said hand piece, a first threaded hole in said annularmember, a clamping screw screwed in said threaded hole and adapted tofix said annular member to said cone-shaped portion, a second threadedhole in said annular member, a slotted arm' member, a screw extendingthrough the slot of said arm' member'and being screwed in said secondthreaded hole to press said arm member on said annular' member, a gaugepin and means adapted to removably and adjustably attach said pin tosaid arm member.

12. In a' standard hand piece of a dental engine according to claim 11,wherein said slotted arm member is formed with a concave contact surfacefor engagement with said annular member, the curvature of said concavesurface being the same as that of the outer diameter of said annularmember. a

13. In an angle hand piece' of a dental engine, gauge means forproducing parallel cuts, said gauge means comprising an angle memberadapted to be applied on and permanently secured to an edge of asubstantially square-shaped housing 1 cutter, comprising in combinationa single arm member, one end of said arm member being slottedlengthwise, means extending through the slot of said arm member toadjustably mount and lock said slotted end of said arm member on saidholder, a gauge prong, one end of said gauge prong being adjustably andfirmly secured to the other end of said arm member, the other end ofsaid gauge prong, adapted to be held in contact with a reference surfaceduring the cutting operation, being bent at a right angle with respectto its other end and being parallel with respect to the surface of saiddisk cutter.

15. A gauge according to claim 14, wherein said reference surfaceengaging end of said prong is flattened.

HELLMUTH R. KLEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,321,130 Schlueter Nov. 11, 19191,380,040 Chayes May 31, 1921 1,692,712 Tannebaum Nov. 20, 19282,399,231 Klein et a1 Apr. 30, 1946

